Napster to be Acquired by Rhapsody

One of the oldest internet subscription music services on the web, Rhapsody, has finally, and officially, acquired Napster subscribers as well as a host of other assets from Best Buy. However, Best Buy will retain a minority stake in Rhapsody according to a joint statement from both companies.

The acquisition is expected to close on November 30 according to the companies. Best Buy is unloading a music service that really struggled before being acquired by Rhapsody and seemingly disappeared afterwards. Financial terms of the deal have not officially been released though it does not appear that Best Buy's investment in Napster has paid off.

The electronics retailer acquired a revamped version of Napster back in 2008 which allowed the company to officially enter into the online music sector. Napster started off as the pioneer file-sharing service back in the day. The service allowed users to share songs with each other via the internet. However, lawsuits filed by multiple recording companies nearly destroyed the company, eventually leading to the selling of the trademark and brand.

Three years ago Best Buy launched an all-cash tender offer for outstanding Napster shares priced at $2.65 per share; the full acquisition was valued at $121 million. That number represented a $54 million net of approximately $67 million in cash and short-term investments. Napster recognized that it had 700,000 members when Best Buy acquired the service though it is unclear as to how many the company has now.

Despite Napster's failure, Rhapsody appears to be years ahead of its time. Over the past ten years Rhapsody worked on getting consumers interested in subscription music services. Now the entire music industry is attempting to make that business model work.

Rhapsody was owned, in part, by RealNetworks and Viacom, though those companies spun off the service back in April 2010. Since then, managers for Rhapsody have been trying to prevent upstart "all-you-can-eat" services from taking all the credit. Spotify, MOG and some other digital music services are just some of the many services that charge a monthly fee for premium services, just like Rhapsody.

Source: CNET - Rhapsody to acquire Napster (scoop)

3D Best Buy Ads

Ever wanted to shop online for things in 3D? Well now you can thanks to an innovative little promotional stunt from Best Buy. If you looked through your Sunday paper and carelessly tossed your ads section then go and find it because the Best Buy ad has something other than a bargain in it.

Last Sunday's Best Buy ad can be viewed in 3D, if the good 'ol fashioned 2D just isn't doing it for you anymore. But the best thing about seeing the ad in 3D is that you don't need to buy any of those goofy and uncomfortable glasses. What you will need is a computer with an attached webcam. Turn on your webcam and allow Best Buy access to it and the hard part is done. Then all you need to do is slowly move the ad towards the camera until the camera recognizes it.When the product you are looking at is right next to your face you'll know it worked.

But wait, there's more! Try turning the ad in different directions and you will notice that the 3D image moves with it! How is this possible you might ask? Well, thanks to a helpful little thing called Augmented Reality. Now Augmented Reality is probably one of the coolest new gadgets out there. It has already been seen put to use in things like baseball cards and action figures and now even retail ads. With Best Buy taking the first step, we will no doubt see other businesses using AR to find new ways to empty your wallets.